Blind Citizens Australia AGM

2018 Annual General Meeting

Saturday 1 December 2018 at 11:00 AM

Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) will hold its 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Melbourne, at the John Pierce Centre, 25-35 High Street, Prahran, on Saturday, 1 December 2018 at 11:00am. Those members unable to attend in person will be able to listen in to the proceedings via a live stream. The AGM will be followed by lunch and a discussion forum in the afternoon for those who can attend in person. Register HERE.

The agenda for the AGM can be viewed HERE and includes presentation and discussion of the Annual Report and Financial Statements, as well as the announcement of the election of the President, Directors and National Policy Council (NPC) representatives for the ACT, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. There are no items of Special Business for consideration at this year’s AGM. Minutes of the 2017 AGM can be viewed HERE.

All Full Members are entitled to one vote each in relation to any resolution put to the AGM. If Full Members are unable to attend this meeting in person, they may appoint the chairperson, or another Full Member as a proxy. Information about Proxy Voting is available by contacting BCA and a proxy form is available HERE.

It is important to note that no election will take place at the AGM. Following a change to the Constitution in 2017 removing the requirement for a postal ballot, the board has resolved to pilot telephone and SMS voting for this year’s elections. All eligible full members of BCA will have the opportunity to vote via telephone or SMS should an election be necessary.

Register

If you plan to attend in person, please register your attendance here for catering purposes (there is no charge for attending the AGM only, but a $25 fee applies for lunch).

Elections

Call for Nominations for President

Emma Bennison was elected President in 2015, but resigned following her appointment as CEO in 2017. The board elected John Simpson to serve the remainder of the three-year term. John is eligible for re-election.

Members who nominate for the position of President are also eligible to nominate for one of the four Director vacancies. Tallying of votes for the presidency will be completed first, to enable all unsuccessful candidates to remain in contention for election as a Director.

Call for Nominations for Directors

This year, there are four vacancies for Directors of BCA. All are for a three-year term. Directors whose terms of office conclude this year are Chelsea Bartlett, Stephen Belbin, Lynne Davis and Daniel Stubbs. All are eligible for re-election.

Call for Nominations for NPC Members

There are vacant positions for NPC Members in the ACT, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. The term of office for an NPC Member is two years. NPC Members whose terms of office conclude this year are Andrew Webster (ACT), Martin Stewart (VIC) and Greg Madson (WA). All are eligible for re-election. Jennifer Parry served as NPC representative for NSW, but resigned recently following her appointment as NSW/ACT Administration Officer.

In order to nominate for a position on the NPC, members must reside in the state or territory they are nominating to represent.

How to Nominate

Potential nominees must be Full Members of BCA as at 30 June 2018 and are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the relevant Position Description. These are listed below. People wishing to nominate are required to complete a nomination form which is also listed below. Valid nomination forms must include the names of a nominator and seconder, both of whom must be Full Members of BCA as at 30 June 2018. Please note that BCA is strongly committed to ensuring the nomination process is fully accessible to our members. As such, signatures are no longer required. Instead, Company Secretary, Emma Bennison will take all necessary steps to verify the validity of nominations.

All nominations should be accompanied by a written statement of no more than 500 words in support of the nomination by, or on behalf of the nominee. Nomination forms and nominee statements should be submitted in Microsoft Word or text format. Please contact Emma Bennison, Company secretary on 0410 553 383, if you need to submit your nomination in another format.

Nominations and accompanying statements must reach Emma Bennison, Company Secretary, at emma.bennison@bca.org.au by 5:00 PM Monday 22 October 2018.

Telephone Voting Process

Only Full Members of Blind Citizens Australia as at 30 June 2018 may cast a telephone or SMS vote.

Election of President:

If there is only one valid nomination for election as President at the close of the nomination period, the member nominated will be declared elected and there will not be a ballot.

If there is more than one nominee for election as President at the close of the nomination period, a ballot will be held. At the close of the poll, the nominee with the highest number of valid votes received will be declared elected for a three-year term.

Election of Directors:

If there are four or less valid nominations for election as Directors at the close of the nomination period, those members nominated will be declared elected and there will not be a ballot.

If there are more than four nominees for election as Directors at the close of the nomination period, a ballot will be held. At the close of the poll, the four nominees with the highest number of valid votes received will be declared elected for a three-year term.

Election of NPC Representatives:

If there is only one valid nominee for election as the “State Representative” for a State or Territory at the close of the nomination period, that member will be declared elected and there will not be a ballot in that State.

If there are two or more nominees for election as the “State Representative” for a State or Territory at the close of the nomination period, a ballot will be held among members resident in that State. At the close of the poll, the nominee with the highest number of valid votes received will be declared elected.

If a ballot is required for any position, instructions on casting a telephone or SMS vote, along with the details of all nominees and their supporting statements, will be sent to all eligible Full Members by Wednesday 7 November 2018. Voting will open on Monday 12 November and will close on Monday 26 November 2018. Any votes received after this date will not be counted.

The Company Secretary will declare the results of all polls at the AGM on 1 December 2018.

Summary

On behalf of the Board and staff of BCA, I do hope you can join us at this year’s Annual General Meeting. I encourage you to consider nominating for a position as BCA President, as a Director of BCA or as an NPC Member. As an organisation of and for people who are blind or vision impaired, it is important that we acknowledge and support each other to enhance the lives of people who are blind or vision impaired.